Eyeworld

90 EW MEETING REPORTER September 2014 While there are mixed recommendations on screening patients for IPV, she recommended it for female patients who have ocular injury or orbital fractures with unclear etiology. She recommended that IPV screening be done in a private location with the patient alone, whenever possible. Dr. Shriver said she tells patients she suspects of experiencing IPV, "There's a part of the exam I need to do [that] I can't do in this room. Can I take you next door?" She said the 3 words to remember are "ask, assess, refer." Oculoplasty and peace Patients are people, not cases, Amal Al-Sayyed, MD, Amman, Jordan, said in "Oculoplasty Making Peace." "In medicine, we should approach patients in a different way," Dr. Al-Sayyed said. "Medical schools are not teaching us how to treat patients. Medical schools are teaching us how to treat cases. But we need to approach, especially war-injured patients, in a different way." Women are expected to uphold standards of beauty, she said, and yet many war injuries disfigure the face. She shared the story of one woman who lost her eye in a conflict and begged Dr. Al-Sayyed to help her aesthetically. The woman told Dr. Al-Sayyed, "I am not the same woman anymore. I cannot cry anymore as before. So you are the doctor, open the window of my soul. I want my soul to be free." "At that time, I decided to be involved in the story of patients," Dr. Al-Sayyed said. Panel highlights ophthalmic outreach needs WIO President Mildred M.G. Olivier, MD, Hoffman Estates, Ill., moderated a discussion on "Medicine in Areas of Conflict & Disaster" with panelists Ruth Williams, MD, Wheaton, Ill.; Michael W. Brennan, MD, Burlington, N.C.; and Ciku (Wanjiku) Mathenge, MD, PhD, Rwanda. Dr. Williams highlighted the need for international cooperation in managing health crises. "Especially as physicians, we're part of a global community," she said. "Our international medical challenges during times of peace or during times of disaster are everyone's problem." Dr. Mathenge talked about the challenges of providing eyecare in a country with limited health resources. As director of the Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology (RIIO), she shared her goal of developing an affordable basic eye test that would be available to all Rwandans within 5 kilometers of their homes. With only 12 ophthalmologists practicing in Rwanda, she identified the need for more teachers to help train eyecare providers and give educational guidance. Neurology meets ophthalmology: Eye tracking research Neurosurgeon Uzma Samadani, MD, PhD, New York, presented "Detecting Concussion with Eye Tracking," which highlighted the connection between neurology and ophthalmology. Dr. Samadani's research showed that patients' ability to track with their eyes is a useful measure of the severity of diffuse brain injury and a marker for improvement in neurological function. w Because severely neurologically impaired patients cannot watch television—in essence, they have lost the ability to track with their eyes—Dr. Samadani's group decided to use the ability to watch a video as an outcome measure for concussive injury. Her research team was able to quantitate how well a patient's eyes were tracking both together and separately and found that the results correlated with standard metrics for assessing concussions. Dr. Samadani's group was then able to use this information as both an outcome measure and as a diagnostic tool for concussive brain injury. Dr. Samadani thinks that eye tracking can now be used to accurately track patients' recovery progress after a concussive injury. Ways to be an effective communicator Ridwan Shabsigh, MD, New York, presented "The Magic of Communication: How to be an Effective Speaker." Dr. Shabsigh offered tips for effective public speaking: know your goals, audience, content and message. Public speaking as a means of communication is an important professional and life skill, he said, but many people fail in these respects. To capture the audience's attention, speakers should focus on creating a hook, he said—answering the question "Why should I continue to listen to you?" within the first few minutes of a presentation. EW Editors' note: Dr. Samadani has assigned ownership of intellectual property related to neurodiagnostic eye tracking algorithms to NYU and the VA and also has equity in the neurodiagnostic start- up Oculogica Inc., which has licensed these technologies. The other physicians have no financial interests related to their talks. Reporting from the Women in Ophthalmology 2014 Summer Symposium, Leesburg, Va., August 8–10, 2014 View it now: WIO 2014 ... EWrePlay.org Dr. Jacob discusses a new surgical technique for handling subluxated lenses and IOLs. Supported by Allergan

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